Explore the health of Colorado’s rivers statewide
Colorado is referred to as a headwaters state because so many of the major rivers of the United States originate high up in its mountain valleys. The South Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande, and Colorado rivers all begin their path to the sea in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Accordingly, the health of Colorado’s rivers and streams impact states and countries downstream. Take a look at the map below to get an idea of the geography of Colorado’s rivers and streams.
Understanding and assessing stream health can be a complicated issue. To capture a more complete picture of stream health, River Watch conducts statewide water quality monitoring for a variety of characteristics including metals, nutrients, field data, and macroinvertebrates. A crucial part of these efforts is transforming this data into watershed reports. Watershed reports represent an objective analysis of the results of our statewide monitoring program and can be explored on a basin-by-basin basis using the section links below.

Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River is one of the arid American West’s most important suppliers of water. Its basin drains an area roughly the size of France and provides water to seven states in the US – Wyoming, Colorado, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona – as well as two states in Mexico.

South Platte River Basin
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Arkansas River Basin
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Rio Grande River Basin
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San Juan/Dolores/San Miguel River Basins
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Gunnison River Basin
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Yampa/White/Green River Basins
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North Platte River Basin
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